In the last decade, our field has seen enthusiastic interest in
the role of vocabulary in foreign language courses. This recent interest has led
to research with practical classroom applications for foreign language
classrooms. In order to progress in a foreign language, learners need to be able
to understand what they are hearing and reading. That is, the input must be
comprehensible in order for it to be useful and meaningful to the learner and
help with acquisition (Krashen, 1982), but if learners do not understand a
sizable portion of the vocabulary in the language that they are reading or
hearing, then this language is not comprehensible and therefore cannot be useful
for acquisition. Many argue that vocabulary is one of the most important-if not
the most important components in learning a foreign language, and foreign
language curricula must reflect this.

Though each language has its own vocabulary intricacies, the
vocabulary needs and learning processes of the learners of foreign languages are
similar. Support for this position comes from vocabulary research from a wide
variety of foreign languages, including research with Dutch learners of French,
English learners of Japanese, Swedish learners of Finnish, and Chinese learners
of English. In fact, some of the most useful foreign language vocabulary
research for classroom teachers has come out of the Netherlands (Hulstijn, 1992)
and Israel (Laufer &: Shmueli, 1997). What emerges from these studies are
vocabulary universals that are not tied to anyone language; these include
the importance of vocabulary, the variety of learner strategies, and the value
of explicit vocabulary teaching.

For too long, we have based our ideas of the process of learning
a foreign lan­guage on the myth that this process is very similar to learning
our first language. Yes, there are similarities, but what a high school student
in the U.S. attempts to accomplish in 36 weeks of 50 minutes a day is extremely
different from what a child surrounded by, his native language every minute goes
through. Our students need to learn words, phrases, and idioms, and they need a
tremendous amount of explicit vocabulary instruction in a relatively (and
artificially) short time. This is the reality for foreign language
learners.

In Vocabulary Myths (Folse, 2004), I summarize research
findings in debunking many of the myths that have restricted the role of
vocabulary in foreign language curricula over the years. These eight myths are:
(1) Vocabulary is not as important in learning a foreign language as grammar
or other areas. (2). It is not good to use lists of words when learning
vocabulary. (3) Vocabulary should be presented in semantic sets. (4) The use of
translations is a poor way to learn new vocabulary. (5) Guessing words from
context is as productive for foreign language learners as it is for first
language learners.(6) The best vocabulary learners make use of one or two
really good specific vocabulary learning styles. (7) Foreign language learners
should use a monolin­gual dictionary. (8) Vocabulary is covered enough in our
curricula and courses.

Whenever I conduct workshops on foreign language vocabulary
pedagogy. I am invariably asked the question, "So what does research say is the
best way to teach vocabulary?" There is no one answer here, but research
(Hulstijn, 1992; Folse, 1999) clearly shows that learners need multiple
encounters with words. Thus, the most important point in teaching and learning
vocabulary is the number oftimes the learner has to retrieve the word, a
factor which the teacher can influence through classroom activities.

What does this mean for the teacher? After you have presented a
set of words, do as many activities as possible that cause the learner to have
to retrieve the form, the meaning, orthe usage of the word. When I
taught Spanish in Japan, my students had virtually no contact with Spanish
outside the classroom. As new vocabulary was introduced, I wrote the word on a
large sheet ofnewsprint on the wall. (You could also use an overhead
transparency ora section ofthe white­board.) When I finished the
class, I had a numbered list of perhaps 15-20 items. Some were single words;
others were idioms or expressions. At the end of class, I would stop and have
everyone look at our list as I directed several rapid exercises that focused on
multiple student vocabu­lary retrievals. I knew that all of these activities
would force the students to retrieve the form, the meaning, or the usage of
these new words.

Here are seven activities that can be done with any foreign
language. Some of these activities focus only on form while others focus on
meaning or on usage. It is important for the teacher to keep the pace of the
activity brisk to maintain student interest. Again, the goal of these activities
is to increase the number of target vocabulary retrievals.

Activity 1. Have the class read a list of
expressions aloud in the target language. This is good for group
pronunciation. (Knowing a word is not like a light switch that is either
totally on or totally off; knowing a word is more like a dimmer switch with
varying degrees of knowledge. Knowing a word involves knowing its
pronunciation, spelling, part of speech, definitions [polysemy], usages, and
collocations.)

Activity 2. Read a list of vocabulary words
at random and have students identify the vocabulary you have called out by
the number next to the item. While this is important for all foreign
languages, it is especially important for students studying a language with
a different script, such as Japanese learners of Spanish (or English
learners of Arabic, etc.). What you are doing is practicing vocabulary and
improving reading readiness. I studied Arabic for a year in Saudi Arabia,
and what I found lacking in my own study was not the ability to decode words
but rather the ability to do this rapidly enough. I knew the word, but it
was frustrating not to be able to recognize the words quickly enough.

Activity 3. Since recognition usually
precedes production, provide simple syn­onyms or definitions and have
students tell you the word you're talking about.

Activity 4. Don't forget to practice form as
well. Ask students questions about the word forms. For example, if the 15
words on a Spanish list include cuchillo, arroz,
cocinar, desayuno, noche, tom ate, ayer, and
habia, you might ask these questions (in Spanish or in English,
depending on the level of the students, or maybe one day in English and the
next in Spanish): Which word ends in –z? Which words start with a vowel
letter? Which words start with a vowel sound? Which of these is the shortest
word? Which word has the most syllables? Which word is a past tense word?
What word is the most difficult for you to pronounce? (Personalized
questions like this last one can generate a lot of discussion that requires
learners to say the word multiple times to complete the discussion.)
Students need to form mental links between a distinguishing feature of the
word and the word itself. How many times can you as a native speaker
remember only an aspect of the form of the word but not the word itself,
e.g., “I don’t remember the word. I think it starts with a k and ends
with a ch.”

Activity 5. One of the vocabulary myths is
that using translations is bad. All learners translate at some point
in their foreign language learning. Sometimes a translation is needed to
understand a key sentence or passage. In this activity, give the English
translations and ask for the corresponding word.

Activity 6. Learning words in a context is
important. We want learners to have a brief expression or group of words
that is a natural connection to the word. These natural connections are
called collocations, which simply means other words that naturally occur
with the target words. An example from English would be the word squander.
It is not enough to say that this word means “waste, not use correctly.”
Right now make up an example sentence with the word squander. (Do not go on
until you do this.) The vast majority of native speakers of English
naturally combine squander with expressions of money, time, a resource, or
and opportunity. Thus, while you could squander sugar or the beach, we don’t
say that. We almost always squander money, time, a resource, or an
opportunity.

Activity 7. In a list of 15-20 items, many
things can be grouped in different ways based on meaning, on spelling, or on
grammar. Using again our list of 15 Spanish vocabulary words including
cuchillo, arroz, cocinar, desayuno, noche,
tomate, ayer, and habia, you might ask these questions:
Which two words are time words? Which one is a verb in the infinitive form?
Which of these do people eat? Which of these do people eat with? Which is a
verb in the past tense? Which of these is made of metal? Which one is the
name of a meal?

Finally, encourage students to keep a vocabulary notebook because
a great deal of vocabulary growth ultimately depends on the learner. I never
have my students copy definitions in the target language unless they choose to
do so. One of the biggest vocabulary myths is that using a monolingual
dictionary in Spanish or Japanese is some how better for learning. This is
false. Research (Prince, 1995) shows an advantage for bilingual dictionaries.
Have students who are successful vocabulary language learners share their
notebook methods. For students who need help, demonstrate how to set up a
vocabulary notebook that is neat and organized in a manner that will facilitate
multiple retrievals of the words. If the notebook is not set up well, then
learners are less likely to practice the words, which defeats the purpose of
keeping the notebook in the first place.

REFERENCES

Folse, K. (1999). The effect of written practice activity on
second language vocabulary retention. Unpublished doctoral dissertation,
University of South Florida, Tampa.

Folse, K. (2004). Vocabulary Myths: Applying Second Language
Research to Classroom Teaching. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press.